This invention relates to a robotic machine and to a method of operating a robotic machine. It can be applied to a robotic floor clearing device, such as a robotic vacuum cleaner, or some other robotic machine.
It is known to provide a robotic vacuum cleaner programmed to clean the floor of a room. The programming may consist of feeding a detailed map of the room and training the cleaner to reciprocate to and fro from one side to the other side of the room. Alternatively, it may comprise leading the cleaner around the room in a training cycle so that the cleaner repeats the cycle from information stored in memory. International Patent Application No. PCT/GB99/04072 describes an autonomous vacuum cleaner which performs a spira-like pattern to traverse the floor surface of a room.
Some machines have warning lights to alert the user when a fault has occurred. For example, a vehicle engine management system will have a warning light which illuminates when a fault occurs. This way be a minor fault which does not have to be rectified urgently, or it may be a major fault requiring urgent attention. Until the vehicle fault is diagnosed by specialist equipment, or unless the vehicle breaks down, the user will be unaware of the state of health of his vehicle engine and its associated systems.
Domestic appliances such as washing machines and dishwashers have animated dials which indicate what part of the washing cycle the machine has reached. It is also known to use a limited range of indicator lamps to represent a large number of fault conditions, with each fault condition being represented by a different combination of illuminated lights or a combination of flashing and steady illumination of the lamps. This can be very confusing for a user, and often requires a user to consult a user manual to interpret the state of the machine.
Computers have programs which, by making an unusual sound, wan the user that he is adopting an illegal or inappropriate entry on the keyboard or that the computer cannot execute the requested function. A wide choice of such sounds is commonly available.
The Sony Corporation, on 11 May 1999, announced the launch of a four-legged entrainment robot called xe2x80x9cAIBOxe2x80x9d. The head of the robot has two eyes, each eye having a red LED lamp and a green LED lamp spaced apart from one another. The red lamp is illuminated to express anger and the green lamp is illuminated to express happiness. The eyes flash red and men when the robot is confused.
Some users feel uneasy about using modern appliances. This is not helped by providing appliances that have a complicated and confusing away of controls and indicator.
It is an object of the present invention to improve a user""s understanding of the state of interaction occurring between a machine and its environment.
A first aspect of the present invention provides a robotic machine having a plurality of sensors by means of which the robotic machine can interact with its environment, a controller for controlling the machine to carry out a task using the sensors, and an indicator light to indicate the state of interaction between the machine and the environment, wherein the controller is arranged to change the colour of the light according to the state of interaction and wherein the indicator light comprises two or more differently coloured light sources which am separately energisable, and means for combining the light output of the light sources to give the effect of a single coloured light.
The light sources can be illuminated alone or in combination.
By providing a single indicator which can take a range of colours, operation of the machine is made mom user-friendly. Rather than looking at a confusing away of indicators, the user simply looks at the colour of the single indicator for an indication of the machine""s state or xe2x80x98moodxe2x80x99. When only one of the light sources is energised the indicator appears as that colour. For example, when the red source is energised, the indicator appears red. When multiple light sources are energised at the same time, the outputs of the sources are combined and the indicator has the color of the combination For example, when the red and green sources are illuminated, the indicator appears yellow/orange. Small variations in the state of the machine can be easily conveyed by shifting the colour of the indicator, e.g. from green to green-blue.
Preferably the light sources comprise red, green and blue primary colour light sources as this combination of light sources is capable of generating the full range of visible colours.
There can be multiple light sources of each colour. This increases the light output and, by interleaving the sources with other, differently-coloured sources, an improved blending effect is achieved.
Each of the light sources can be provided as a separate device, a plurality of such devices being mounted on a support, or a single multi-source device can be provided. The multi-source device can include some form of diffused lens or this can be provided separately.
While the embodiment describes the use of the indicator light on a robotic vacuum cleaner, the indicator can be used on other forms of robotic machine.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a method of operating a robotic machine.